The Secret Language of Flowers
by Rune-Spirit
Summary: Owen makes a surprise visit to the house and pressures Bree for more than she is comfortable with. It's up to her family to protect her and pick up the pieces. As they do, Adam's secrets come out, and the family walks the line between their facade of normalcy and the truth. Bradam; not actual brothers/sister but contains pseudo-sibling bonding and bonding with Davenport; One-shot


R_S: So I was bored, watched a handful of Lab Rats episodes on Netflix, and pumped this little story out. I noticed a surprising lack of Bradam pieces, so I decided to work on that. I always like weird, unpopular noncanon pairings, but I am not ashamed! Go Bradam, go Bennica, go Bethyl, go BarneyxRobin (I'm noticing a weird penchant for characters with B names…)! I wish JK Rowling had stuck to her original plan and put Hermione with Fred! So yeah… this strange rant is why I shouldn't be allowed to just sit and write a story from start to finish with little else in between… Anyway, I like Chase, but it's annoying that he's so obviously Donald AND Douglas's favorite and the most powerful and about a billion other things. It leaves the other two underutilized, and I really appreciate the way Adam and Bree always seem to be kind of in sync, making episodes where they work together the best. I just flat-out don't like Leo.

I took a little bit of artistic license with Adam's stupidity and made it a little manipulative- like he's stupid but he knows it, so sometimes he uses the fact that everyone thinks he's an idiot to cover for things. And if you're curious about the flower references throughout the story, I explain them in the ending author's note.

So, enjoy!

* * *

**The Secret Language of Flowers**

Bree stretched herself languidly across the couch, enjoying a rare moment of relative peace. Tasha had recently ordered some new piece of furniture. What it was, Bree honestly did not care enough to find out, but she did know it was delivered earlier that day. The delivery men were supposed to bring it in and install it, but due to some oversight on the company's part, it was merely left by the front-door. An angry phone call to the vendor reinforced the message that this object was entirely the Davenports' problem (new policy: no more installations due to insurance issues- there was a story there that Bree would have loved to hear). What followed was a chain reaction of silly boys trying to one-up each other:

Tasha obviously wanted Donald to take care of it, but he was lazy and thus wanted Adam to carry everything up. And hey, technically it was manual labor- right up the tall guy's alley. This, of course, brought out Chase's competitive side, and he insisted that, as the smartest, he should be in charge of putting it together. Then Leo, wanting to seem manly too, tagged along with the other boys as usual, and in the end, Tasha knew better than to leave them unsupervised.

But none of that was Bree's problem. She had no manly pride, nor was she invested in this new… whatever it was. And they did not want her interfering with "men's work" anyway. That was obnoxiously chauvinistic, she thought, but fine. Let them screw it up. If Tasha and she were building it, they would take one look at the instructions and have it finished in no time. But not their boys; they had stubbornly left the booklet on the kitchen counter. It was "to prove a point," they said. Every so often, some pained and/or terrified yelp would echo from afar, and she would smirk. Served the morons right.

She was about half-way through a Star Wars marathon (episodes I-III, not the original trilogy. She knew it was blasphemous, but honestly- she liked them better. Annakin and Obi-Wan were hot, and she liked Natalie Portman, so sue her!), when she heard footsteps approaching. Quickly, she snagged the remote and switched it to an unobtrusively bland house-hunting show- if her brothers caught her watching Star Wars, she'd never hear the end of their nerding.

"Well," Leo announced tiredly, "mom's stupid mirror-desk is done." She winced, noticing Adam's hand wrapped in a towel and sped over to look over the cut. It was nothing serious, it seemed, as Chase and he waved her off. He was fine, he said with a silent shrug as the two headed down to the lab, and she nodded, turning her attention to the parents walking down the stairs.

"Mirror-desk?" She asked.

"It's called a vanity, Leo," Tasha said, "and it would have gone a lot quicker if you boys had just followed the instructions." A vanity, Bree admitted to herself, warranted a bit of caring.

Davenport snorted, "Uh yeah, but then it wouldn't have all those cool mods!" She shot him a deadpan look.

"Yes, I've always wanted a mirror that can blow-dry my hair. You're truly a genius, baby." Not sensing the sarcasm, her husband grinned.

"I know; I'm amazing." She rolled her eyes, and looked at her watch.

"Oh shoot, we're going to be late for grandma Rose… you boys hurry up and change." She sounded rushed but sidled up next to Bree.

She leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "Some of the stuff they put in is actually pretty cool… wanna help me get ready?" The teen grinned and nodded, and the two darted up the stairs, disappearing just as Leo shook his head and muttered something about girls.

Bree held back to be fair and allow Tasha to get their first, out of breath and excited. The older woman dropped into the cushy white chair across from her new vanity and smiled at the reflection of the girl behind her. The other returned it, smoothing down her 'mother's' hair and staring into the reflection. On the outside, it looked like a tasteful dressing table, simple and lovely. But they both knew better- it was a Davenport original.

"It's beautiful," the young brunette said. Tasha nodded as the two primped her.

"Yes, and even better than in the catalog. Donald gave it all sorts of features to organize my 'woman goop,' as he called it, and help me get ready. A built in hair dryer around the mirror, built in nail-polish dryer in the drawer, adjustable lighting… and obviously some weird security feature that will automatically alert him if the mirror picks up on 'unusual or dangerous activity.'" Bree snorted but couldn't hold back an affectionate smile.

"That's kind of adorable. He's such an overprotective dork."

Tasha giggled, "Yeah, he's really sweet." Noticing the faraway look in Bree's eyes, she stood and placed a hand on the younger girl's arm. "You'll have that too one day, honey. Some amazing man is going to shower you with everything." She moved to her closet to pick out some fresh clothes.

"Oh, yeah totally; I know. Owen's great- he calls me his muse." She said for the umpteenth time since they had started dating, "He draws portraits of me and paints me pictures, it's so sweet." Tasha shot her a look from the corner of her eye.

"I know, it's wonderful… but that's all meaningful to _Owen_. Are you really that into art?" Bree shrugged, picking through the beauty supplies around the vanity.

"I like it. It's pretty, a lot of the time… and flattering that he thinks of me as inspiration. I mean, I don't always get it, but it's the thought that counts."

"Well that's all good and well, but don't forget that it's just high school. You'll know it's a man in love and not just a boy with a crush- it's a whole different creature, Bree. He goes out of his way for you when you didn't even know you wanted it. He'll know your loves and your likes and your dislikes, every secret… It's a magical feeling. And they get so protective, worrying about you all the time. Trust me," she winked, "it's hot."

The girl blanched slightly, "Please don't talk about Davenport like that… it's kinda grossing me out." Tasha laughed, buttoning a satiny purple blouse.

"Alright. All I'm saying is that I want you to make sure whoever your with cares about what _you_ want, not just what they want from you." She pressed a kiss to Bree's cheek, running her hands down her arms affectionately. "Gosh… you're growing into such a beautiful young lady."

"Oh my gosh, Tasha stop." Bree laughed and rolled her eyes, but gave an affectionate hug.

"Alright, alright… c'mon, I'd better light a fire under those butts or we'll never get out of here."

The ladies made their way downstairs, where the boys were changing and rewrapping Adam's hand. Whenever he was injured, he always picked at it like a puppy. It took a few terse words, but after only a couple minutes, Leo and Davenport were prepared to brave the trip to Grandma Rose. Davenport looked at them seriously as he shrugged on his leather jacket.

"So listen, while I'm gone I need you guys to monitor the gamma ray situation in Montvale. There shouldn't be any residual contamination, but you can never be too careful. Just keep an eye on those readings, and at some point, you're going to need to take a soil sample. It's nothing complicated; we just need to be certain. I wrote out the specs for what we need and left them on the desk in the lab."

"No problem, Mr. D- I'll keep track of everything. And later, Bree can pop over there for a quick sample." Chase assured him.

She nodded and crossed her arms, "Piece of cake."

"Great, thanks kids."

"And while you do that," Tasha cut in, "maybe, uh, rewrap Adam's hand?" For already the third time since they put together the vanity, he had just about removed all the bandages on his injured appendage.

"I'm afraid I'll turn into a mummy." He told them seriously.

Bree rolled her eyes and bumped his hip with her own. "I'm starting to think we need to put a cone on you."

* * *

There were times (extremely, _extremely_ rare times) when Bree wondered why she had wanted to be a normal teen in the first place. Then there were moments like the one she was enduring with the boys, painfully endless hours of nothingness overwhelming her time. It was like before their first missions, when all she had was the windowless lab that gave no connection to the outside world. Sometimes it felt the same, like she was back to being that trapped little girl, and it gave her an itchy, unsettled feeling in her bones. It was why she avoided spending her free time in the lab whenever possible. Chase and Adam did not mind hanging out down there, she knew; they appreciated the comfort and safe base. But she had always been the adventurous one, the one most eager to go out and try new things. Being locked in the lab was hard for them, but it was downright _unbearable_ for her. She had been given the ability to travel the world in seconds flat, the need to move and be everywhere, only to be trapped within a high-tech cage.

Days like this, when she sat aimlessly down there, caused that restlessness to creep up the back of her neck and into her brain. It gave her a panicked feeling, like she needed to be anywhere but there. Leaving the house was tempting but sadly not an option. Soon she would have to speed over to Montvale for that soil sample, and in case of radiation, she needed her suit. Caitlin was out with her boyfriend, so girl talk was not an option. And as much as her brothers annoyed her, wandering the house by herself just sounded lonely. She had already watched enough television to melt her brain during the whole dressing table debacle, and video games weren't exactly her speed. Instead she spent her time sitting bored in the lab, twirling a strand of hair as she texted her boyfriend about how bored and alone she was.

The bell rang unexpectedly, causing them all to jump. The cracker and mayonnaise tower Adam had been building collapsed, and Bree let out a small giggle. He stuck his tongue out at her but grinned, so she stuck hers out right back. Chase paid them no mind and sat up a bit straighter.

"Eddy, who's at the door?" An image of Owen's face, distorted slightly by the camera, popped up on screen, partly obscured by a large bouquet of marigolds.

Adam furrowed his brow, "What's he doing here?"

"Awww, who cares? He brought me flowers!" Bree responded dreamily before speeding up to meet him. She all but threw the door open, breathless and excited. He gave her a dopey, side-ways grin as he thrust out the flowers, like the ones Adam gave her when he was showing off one of his silly ideas or creations.

"Owen!" she gasped in fake surprise, taking the bouquet, "They're so beautiful! I'm going to put them in water right now."

"Great. I picked Marigolds cuz they're more unique, not ruined by mainstream media's ideals of romantic love." She scurried over to the kitchen and grabbed a vase as he let himself in, shutting the door behind him. He looked pleased with himself for her excitement, and she looked at him over the blooms. Maybe this was what Tasha had been talking about earlier, about a boy thinking of you above all else. It was a sweet gesture, obviously meant entirely for her. Boys were never excited about flowers (well, unless they were Adam), so that had to count for putting her desires first, right? The fact that he had made it a little artsy was a small concession.

"What are you doing here?"

He shrugged, "I know you said you'd be home alone, and I thought I'd come keep you company." His smile seemed to glow like a million watts, and she returned it eagerly.

"Oh, you're so sweet to think of me! I'm not totally alone, though I wish I was- Chase and Adam are here to annoy me." She rolled her eyes and continued to rearrange the flowers, not noticing how her boyfriend's eager grin dimmed a little.

"Well… now I'm here to annoy you too. Where are they?" Bree waved a flippant hand, setting her vase of marigolds on counter just so.

"Oh they're off goofing off or playing video games or something. Whatever they usually do… Adam's probably planning some horrific prank for me later." She skipped over to her boyfriend and grinned.

"What do you wanna do? We could see what's on TV, play a game… I'm not much for video games, but I'm willing to try." She teased.

"You always want to have couple time, and when I come over with flowers, you offer to play video games?" He laughed, "You, Miss Davenport, are an enigma. How about something a little more romantic… private?"

She grinned excitedly, stretching her arms over his shoulders to entwine behind his head, "Romantic? I like the sound of that. What did you have in mind? I can grab a blanket, and we can turn down the lights to watch whatever sappy love story we can find." She jerked her head in the direction of the television.

"While the ambiance sounds appealing, I think we're missing out on the 'private' part. The living room isn't exactly exclusive."

"No, no it is not. Alas, one of life's many inequities." Bree teased.

With a chuckle, Owen slid his hand across her waist, "So, where's your room?"

"My room," she repeated nervously, voice unusually loud and strained as her eyes flickered past him in a desperate attempt to search out a diversion, "you want to see my room…" She didn't have one, none of them did. They slept in the lab. He laughed.

"Yeah, I'd love a glance into that mysterious head of yours." She let out a nervous giggle and dropped her arms as he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Uh- I'm not allowed to have boys in my room!" Bree blurted out hurriedly. He pulled her against his chest, running a hand through her hair.

"Your parents aren't here… babe, it'll be fine."

She shook her head, "Honestly, Owen, I don't think it's a good idea."

"Ok, you're worrying too much-"

"I'm just not comfortable with it, ok? I'm sorry… it's too much."

"Bree, I just think it'd be nice to have a little bit of alone time; just me and you." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, leaning in closer, "We can curl up on the bed and relax, just have some couple time. Nobody will even know; it'll be just us."

It was tempting, they both knew it. In all the movies Bree watched, the leading lady always ended up curled against her man, enjoying a movie or staring up at the stars as they divulged their deepest feelings. It was beautiful, magical- what she imagined a happy relationship would be like. One that was normal, not like Davenport and Tasha's crazy excitement. But the matter stood that Bree _wasn't_ normal; none of the bionics were. Whenever he touched her in privacy, when any boy she had dated did so, a jolt of nervous excitement flowed through her veins, and she was constantly fearful of a glitch. With people around, there was the illusion of distance, but all of that comfort evaporated in seclusion. It had led to her avoiding being alone with any beau, always opting for public dances and dinners and nights out near classmates. This life, by its very nature had left her distanced from the world, from life itself. Owen would never understand her real feelings, not really, and there was nowhere for them to share such intimacies regardless. Desperately, she grasped for some way to not say such things.

"B-but the guys will totally snitch-"

"No, they won't." He moved to seemingly kiss her neck, but she lifted her shoulder to her ear, turning with discomfort.

"Yes," Chases's voice cut in darkly from behind, "they will." Owen pulled away from Bree and turned to see the two boys standing at the entry to the kitchen, arms crossed and glares dark. Bree took an uneasy step away from her boyfriend's back, already not liking where everything was going. He shot them one of his patented friendly smiles.

"Hey guys, I thought you were playing videogames in your room or something. Do you mind? We're kind of having a private conversation- couple stuff."

"Oh I think you're private enough," The shorter of the two muttered under his breath as they made their way to the center of the room. "We heard talking, thought we'd come see how you two _lovebirds_ are doing." Owen resisted the urge to wince, wondering how much they'd heard.

"Um, we're good… but seriously, we're kinda busy right now."

"Look, I just needed Bree's help with something really fast." He continued coolly, "I'll have her back in no time."

Her eyes darted back and forth between the boys nervously, "Chase, now's not really a good time-"

"It's about that _thing_ Davenport wanted us to check on while they were away…" Her mouth formed a tiny 'o' of understanding. The gamma readings; he probably needed her to speed over and take the soil sample from Montvale. She looked over at Owen and bit her lip.

"Sorry, this is important. I'll be back in a sec." She went with Chase out of the room hurriedly, without looking back. Owen thought Adam would follow, but he didn't, simply stood in front of the island with a dark look and arms crossed. Finally, after a stretch of silence, the shorter boy could not take it anymore.

"So, uh… you guys were listening?"

"Yup."

"Do you spy on your sister often?" He had not meant to sound so accusatory, but the day was beginning to grate on his nerves. As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them. They caused Adam's scowl to deepen.

"Only when I don't trust who she's with." Owen winced at that, understanding how bad he probably looked in that moment. The other boy moved closer and he took a reflexive step back closer to the door, putting his hands up in mock surrender.

"Bro, I get it. I was being a jerk, I'm sorry. We're cool, right?" Wrong, apparently.

Adam moved Owen against the wall with a fistful of his shirt, leaning in. "Look, buddy, we're friends- I like you. Really, I do. That butter sculpture, it was blast. But you know what I _don't_ like? Skeevy guys trying to get Bree into bed."

"Adam, I said I-"

"I'm not done, finger-paint. Anything that happens better be _her_ idea. You got a lot of nerve trying to pull that shit. Bree, she's sweet and naïve, doesn't want to hurt your feelings or be mean. Too bad for you, I'm not so nice, and I don't like what I saw. And I think pain is funny. From now on, I don't want to see you yelling at her. I don't want to see your hands wander too far. And I sure as hell better not see you slobbering all over her neck. Try something like that again, and I'll sculpt your face with my fist… we clear, compadre?"

Owen nodded vigorously, "Yeah… yeah, we're clear." After a long moment of continued glaring, Adam dropped his grip and stepped back, dopey grin on his face.

"Alright, awesome! See, I knew I liked you." He landed a punch to the other boy's shoulder, causing him to wince. As Owen smoothed out his shirt, Bree reentered the room, hair looking just a bit more wind-blown than earlier.

"Hey, sorry about that." She laughed, "You know how Chase can be. But hey, at least you had company."

"Yeah, we were just talking about art." Adam grinned.

"Great… now beat it, lughead." She slapped him hard on the back, but he caught her hand and leaned in to speak softly.

"Bree, maybe I should stick around…"

"Seriously, Adam," she hissed, "get lost. I can handle myself." She stared back at him seriously for a long moment, and he nodded, giving her hand a quick, reassuring squeeze and leaving quickly. Owen and she were left looking at each other, and she licked her lips, maintaining some distance.

"So… what was all that about earlier? It kinda felt like it came outta nowhere."

He was trying not to be angry, realizing on some plane of consciousness that his level of anger was relatively unfounded, but it was not working. Pain and anger, they had a way of seeping through your defenses and sinking their talons into your heart, seeping out in tone and expression. He could feel his face pulling downward, hardness in his eyes as his fists clenched. He fixed her with his petulant gaze.

"It wasn't 'out of nowhere,' Bree. We've been dating for a while." He snapped, but took a deep breath. "Sorry, you know I get carried away. It's like the homecoming dance all over again. But I can't understand how long I'm supposed to just hold hands and everyday hope I just might get a kiss! If you don't want to, fine, but my wanting to be alone and explore our feelings shouldn't surprise you."

"I just… I don't know what you want me to say, ok? I can't… I mean," she gave a short laugh, "kissing you feels like my brains are gonna melt out my ears, but I can't… I've never had anything as serious as I have with you, and this is all I feel like I can do right now." She dropped her gaze again, "I'm sorry."

She was always like this with him, meek and reserved. It was unlike the vibrant little wildcat he watched poke fun at Chase or trade affectionate barbs with Adam. That was what made him notice her, the spark that made her his muse. It was gone around him, like he was slowly snuffing it out. A sense of guilt always settled in him because of it, but more than that, he craved the fiery passion he knew her to possess and selfishly needed to harness it for his own inspiration. Maybe, he had thought and hoped, if they could reach newer heightened levels of intimacy, perhaps then he could experience that side of her and create greatness. It was taking advantage, he knew, but lately it was all he thought about her.

He sighed, running a hand over his hair. "Bree, I get it; you're not ready. That's fine, I _get_ that. Really, I do. But at what point does it stop? It seems like you really like me, but then you're distant and distracted and it doesn't seem like you want to be with me." She moved forward and stared up at him, big-eyed and earnest.

"I do like you, Owen, I really do. So, so much."

"So why can't you show me? At what point are you going to be able to be alone with your boyfriend and be part of an actual couple? At least give me a timeline we can talk about! What's it going to be- a week, a month, 3 months, what?"

She shook her head, "That's not fair. I just told you that I'm not used to this, that I'm not ready. You can't give me a deadline."

"Fine, I get that ok, seriously. But what about being intimate in a _not_ physical way? I know how you like your coffee and that you want to go to Paris and that you're not a big Taylor Swift fan- but none of that _means_ anything! I can't keep living like this, at arm's length. Tell me something, Bree. Tell me something meaningful or I swear I'll walk out that door right now."

"Ok," she nodded, taking his arm and pulling him onto a seat on the couch, "ok, I can do sharing." But Owen scoffed.

"Somehow I doubt it. We're not even anywhere private; we're sitting on your living room couch where pretty much anyone can here. You're not ready to take our relationship to the next level, fine, but can't you trust me enough to just sit in your room and talk?"

"No, I told you- Mr. Davenport doesn't let me have boys in my room."

He threw his hands up, "See, this is what I mean. You're my girlfriend, but I don't know _anything_ about you or- or why you do what you do. It's really weird that you call your dad Mr. Davenport-"

"Ok, no no, see this is good," she put a hand out towards him to halt his talking, excited she could share something that wasn't totally a secret, "here's something that we don't like to talk about: Mr. Davenport isn't our real dad. We try not to say anything about it, cuz the kids at school can be weird y'know? Like, the way everyone looks at that one adopted girl that sits in front of us in Ms. Kay's class, like there's something wrong with her… we get enough of that without everyone knowing we aren't related. But yeah, Davenport takes care of us and home schooled us for a while, and we each think of him as our dad in a way, but he's not our father… he's our foster father, I guess."

Owen only glared, "Great, now I know more about you _and_ your brothers. Again. I asked for something personal, a secret. Does anything I say matter at all to you?" She pulled her hands away, affronted.

"Owen! How dare you- that _is_ a secret! We haven't told anyone else about that."

"And I appreciate that you felt comfortable telling me, Bree, really I do. But that's not the point. Don't you have any secret that's just _yours_, not your family's? I mean, I get that there's a special bond in that, being all each other has left, and I can respect that. It was cool of Mr. Davenport to take you all in. But every time I get pushed up against a wall or threatened by one of your brothers, I feel like I'm dating siblings and not just yo-"

"Oh no, you don't understand; _none_ of us are related, not just us and Davenport. Well, actually I think Chase and Davenport might- never mind, it's complicated. Look, I can think of something to tell you that's just mine if you reall-"

"No, wait a minute," Owen cut in, standing, "I wanna talk about that for a goddamn minute. You three aren't actually brothers and sister, at all?" She gave him an uncertain look.

"Well, no. But neither is Leo, and you're not freaking out about _that_, so…"

"So let me get this straight," he spoke slowly, voice a deadly calm hiss, "you aren't comfortable touching me, your fucking _boyfriend_, for more than a moment, but you'll rap yourself all over Adam all day? I mean seriously- I've watched that developmentally stunted meathead grab you and hold you from behind, keeping his hand about an _inch_ from second base. You're with him all the time. He's always here when I come over, watching us and getting involved, and I mean, _everyone's_ heard about when Caitlin tried to come over for a date night with him and you wouldn't leave."

"Owen, what are you talking about? You _like_ Adam; you got all artsy together, remember? He 'got' you."

"Uh, yeah- until you got jealous, although now I'm not sure which one of us you were jealous of. Oh my- and then you suddenly cared _so much_ about art when it meant spending time with Adam instead of me!"

"That's not true!"

"He probably planned the whole thing so he could spend time with you!"

"What?! That's actually crazy. Stop it, Owen! You've never had a problem with Adam and me spending time together before-"

"Yeah, when I thought he was your brother! I thought you guys were weirdly close, but obviously I wasn't worried about anything if you two were related. But now I'm wondering why you spend so much time with him? I mean, it's like you're _always_ touching each other! He follows you like a damn puppy, always knows exactly where you are-"

"You're being ridiculous! This is unbelievable. I'm around Chase constantly, too."

He shook his head, "It's _not_ the same thing. You don't look at him the same way. And he doesn't completely lose his shit any time you get upset."

"But we-"

"No, Bree, not like with Adam. Chase is incidental to you."

She glared, "You're wrong, and you're being an asshat." He snorted.

"Whatever. I don't think I want to know what else is going on in your head until you can get everything with your 'brother,'" he made sarcastic air quotes around the word, "figured out. I'm done." Shaking his head in disgust, he strode angrily out the door and slammed it behind him. Bree could only watch him go, standing alone in the living room. The silence following their screams felt deafening, and tears pin pricked behind her eyes. For a moment she took an uncertain step forward, reaching out if only to figure out what she might grasp, but her hand dropped, and she sunk slowly into the couch. A single tear dripped down her cheek, but she wiped it quickly. Instead, she grabbed a throw pillow and screamed into it. A quiet knock came from the kitchen, and she turned to see Chase leaning against the doorframe with a soft expression.

Bree sniffed back tears she did not realize were threatening to fall. "You heard all that?" He pointed to his ear.

"Bionic hearing." A moment passed. "… Are you ok?" She began to nod slowly but at the last minute stopped. With an emphatic shake of her head, she dissolved into tears and bent over, burying her face in her hands and the pillow. Chase moved to her side quickly, perching beside her and wrapping an arm around her shaking shoulders.

"Hey… hey, none of that. The asshole's not worth it. If he has half a brain, he'll come crawling back tomorrow just begging for you to take him back. He'll probably have some weird portrait of you painted with cheese whiz; he'll call it 'transcendent.'" That earned him a laugh as he smiled at her, and she sat up slightly, wiping away at her face.

"Well who says I'd take him back anyway? Forget Owen; he was just a pretty face. Who cares what he thinks." She turned to look at him very seriously, "You know, what he said… it's not true Chase."

He shook his head, "He doesn't know what's really going on, that it's just Adam's job to protect you-"

"What- no, no Chase, I'm not talking about that. I mean what he said about _you_. It's not true, and if anyone thinks you're any less important to me than you are, they're an idiot. You're not 'incidental,' Chase. You mean a lot to me, and I wouldn't be with someone too dense to see that." Before she could say anything else, he pulled her into a tight hug and smoothed down her hair.

"I know."

"Awesome, group hug!" Bree squealed in surprise as Adam came from behind and engulfed the two of them in his large embrace, lifting them from the couch with the force of his hug. "So what's up? Where'd Owen go?" He asked, placing them back down. He vaulted over the couch, falling into place on Bree's other side. Chase made a cutting motion against his throat, but it was too late. Her gaze dropped.

"He, uh, isn't going to be coming around anymore, I don't think."

Sensing her unhappiness, he gave her a lopsided grin, "Cool… I was kinda wondering what his head would look like _buried_ in a butter sculpture. Like, it'd get all up in his nose and stuff." Bree laughed and shook her head at his silliness. "We could do that y'know. I mean, he brought the wrong kind of flowers. Marigolds? No. Should've been roses or tulips or like… apple blossoms."

"How about we just watch a movie instead." She stated rhetorically. As she leaned forward to grab the remote, Chase met the bigger man's gaze and mouthed that he would fill him in later, and the three settled in for some mindless entertainment.

* * *

Davenport and the Dooleys ended up not returning for long while; Grandma Rose could be quite the warden when she wanted to be. But the bionic trio found plenty to do. They managed to watch a few hours of television to lighten the mood, though there was always a heaviness weighing the moment down. Exhausted from the day's drama, Bree drifted into a restless sleep with her head in Adam's lap and her legs over Chase. They extricated themselves carefully and slipped back down to the lab to finish the soil analysis and discuss Owen and his temper.

Chase was wary of how to explain what had troubled the boy so deeply about his (adoptive) siblings' closeness. It made sense, in a weird way. He had never thought about them as anything other than his brother and sister, but there had always been a special bond between the two, like Owen had said. For a long time, it felt like he was an outsider looking in, but he had long since come to terms with the idea that there was something beyond him going on. He was close with both, and there was a deep love, but with Adam and Bree… they understood each other. Adam kept her safe, and she took care of him when he got hurt. Growing up, while Chase focused so heavily on his various tasks and challenges, they would sit in the background sharing food and whispering conspiratorially, like there was a secret the whole world wanted but only they knew. There was an implicit proximity between them, like two magnets drawn together. The three made an effort to stay close in moments of danger, but it was more an effort for Chase to be close to them. They had a way of effortlessly and instinctually finding each other. Sometimes it felt like she was in the big guy's arms more often than not.

Adam, for a guy who could be so slow on the uptake, had a surprising amount of insight regarding his closeness to Bree. Maybe it was because of how primal the need to care for each other was, the way every time Bree was hurt he seemed to feel it himself. Whatever the reason, it felt as though he already knew what Chase was telling him. He could feel Owen's accusations before he heard them. It was like when you wake up to find your hand is asleep. You know what it feels like to touch things with that rubbery limb, but all sense of tactile stimulation is distant until finally the numbness ebbs and feeling returns and there's that moment of reconciliation between memory and sensation. Adam knew he was more wrapped up in Bree than in anything else, often wrapped literally around her in times of crisis. He was wary of the boys that came sniffing around all too often and it was in a different way than Chase. Chase disliked the distraction and worried for her feelings. Adam worried about losing her. He knew where she was almost every moment. On some level, he knew people thought they were weirdly close ever since the cheerleading debacle. But he was dopey and sweet and loyal to a fault. Never had a human been more dog-like in quality. He did not heed what others thought about them and could not care. When something was going on, his concern was putting himself between whatever danger lurked and Bree.

So, when Chase explained Owen's jealousy, he just shrugged and nodded. Well good riddance, he had claimed, and good for Bree for standing up for herself. She did not need him trying to take advantage of her anyway. And as the conversation ended and silence engulfed the two, they shared a moment of understanding. Things were not going to be the same after that break-up. They had known about this for a long time, but despite the depths of her feelings, Bree had a superficiality to her. She focused on the here and now more than anything else, and whether it was naivety or denial, she had never picked up on what was there. If her ex had not brought up that special, intimate connection, she would have left the matter entirely unaddressed. Now, though, it was at the forefront of her mind, and Adam would have to help her handle it. Chase could only pray he would not be caught in the middle of whatever happened.

Upstairs, Bree was woken at the sound of Davenport throwing the door open violently.

"Cry freedom!" Leo bellowed as his stepfather moaned of 'home sweet home.' Tasha rolled her eyes as she shut the door behind them, and Bree stretched out the kinks from sleeping in a ball.

"Hey," she asked tiredly, "how was dinner?"

"Torture." Davenport responded shortly before catching his wife's disapproving gaze and amending the statement, "…-ously short. If only we could spend _more_ time with your mother, lamb chop."

"Mhmm." She mocked, unimpressed, before changing the subject. "Eddy, why don't you tell the boys to come up; Grandma Rose sent us home with some leftovers I think they'll enjoy. Bree, sweetie, are you hungry?"

Bree shook her head, "No, I'm good."

"Well if you change your mind, help yourself; I'm done getting anything for anyone today." She dropped onto the couch and leaned back tiredly, Leo seated to her right, and the other boys came in.

"Alright, what's for dinner?" Adam asked excitedly.

"Just check in the bag." Tasha called back, not moving. He made a bee-line for the paper food confine, Chase hot on his heels lest he not get any.

"Well I can't eat another bite," Leo yawned, "and I'm exhausted. I'm heading up early. Later peeps." Noticing there were no shenanigans afoot, the youngest offered a quick salute and took his leave. Meanwhile, the bionic brothers dug into the leftovers with gusto, smacking one another's hands as they playfully fought over choice pieces.

"Where are these flowers from?" Davenport gasped, affronted, "I would never put cheap gas station flowers in my house!"

Bree looked down and mumbled her answer, playing with the sleeve of her shirt. "Um, Owen gave them to me…"

"Oh how cute!" Tasha commented.

"Yeah yeah yeah, young love in all its splendor. So how'd the soil testing go?" Davenport asked, reclining against the fridge, "What's the verdict?"

"Seems clean, but it's honestly a little inconclusive." Chase said around a bite of food, "I ran some projections, though, and it seems like it'll be fine." Despite his nonchalance, the older man's eyebrows pulled together.

"How could the results be 'inconclusive?' I designed the testing to be exact."

"With such a small sample? Not a chance, Mr. D."

"Small sample? Bree, how much did you get?"

She bit her lip, "I dunno… I used to scoop that was built into the top of the test-tube, just took a spoonful and came back."

"Bree, that's not nearly enough!" Davenport threw his hands up, "Obviously we can't do anything with a sample that little. Honestly, what were you thinking? I gave you very specific instructions, all written out!"

"Dude," Adam cut in lowly, "calm down."

"No, I will not calm down! I asked you to do one thing, Bree, _one thing_." The girl looked down, wringing her hands.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Davenport. I messed up. I was just… dealing with something, and I got distracted."

"Oh you were 'dealing with something,' you were 'distracted.' Then by all means, don't worry about the people of Montvale!"

Bree glared at him, head jerking up, "Look, I said I knew I messed up and I was sorry."

"Sorry doesn't fix things, Bree. Now I'm going to have to go down and do extra work because you couldn't get it right. Seriously, what could possibly have been so important?"

"Ugh, never mind." She snapped back, tears pricking her eyes, "Just forget it." With a shake of her head, she stormed out the kitchen door and down to the lab.

"Geez," Davenport asked, pouring himself a drink, "what's her problem?" The bionic boys exchanged glances.

"She and Owen broke up." Chase answered, "While you guys were gone, there was… an incident."

Tasha turned to them from the couch, expression worried, "Oh no, what happened?" Together the boys pieced together a brief recount of the day's events- Owen's surprise visit, his desire to see Bree's nonexistent room, the fight about how distant and secretive she was. Wisely, they withheld details regarding Owen's desire to take their relationship to a more physical level and his jealous accusations of Adam's protective streak. Davenport had, however, been a teenage boy once upon a time and could read between the lines. He easily guessed the former and what exactly Owen was looking for in Bree's room _alone_. He scowled.

"Good riddance. He was a distraction, and Bree doesn't need some greasy emo-artiste snooping around her bedroom."

"The bedroom that doesn't exist." Tasha added thoughtfully, eyebrows drawn together and equally perturbed. "Boys, why don't you go run and check on your sister. Your father and I need a minute."

"Uh, sure…" Chase looked between the two with some concern but grabbed the remaining food and motioned for Adam to follow him. The taller boy did so but not without grabbing a big bag of snacks he had seemingly stashed in the cabinet beneath the island.

Before she could say anything, Davenport cut in. "There's nothing to talk about, Tasha."

She shook her head, "I'm tired of having this fight with you, this fight about how their soldiers but they're also _kids_. Bree just had her heart broken, and all you could do was yell about some mission."

"Well how was I supposed to know that?"

"You could have asked!"

He sighed, "Fine, I will apologize in the morning when she's calmed down. Now end of discussion."

"Donald, I think we need to address this." She beseeched him reasonably, "Keep the kids in the lab, fine, but we need put in some safeguards for these kinds of situations. Maybe dummy rooms aren't the worst idea."

"Absolutely not! I don't want to encourage that kind of behavior. If we do, who knows what could happen next time!"

"We're not encouraging behavior; we're just giving them a space to bring their friends. Not even having a room to bring Caitlin to is a little suspicious."

"Yeah, you know who else she could bring there? Boys. Boys like Owen." He said the name mockingly, pulling a grimacing face. "I was a teenager once, Tasha. I know _exactly_ what he's up to." She nodded.

"I know, sweetie. That's what teenage boys are like, and I don't like it either. But we are the adults; we can set ground rules about all this. Bree told Owen she's just not allowed to have boys in her room, and I think that would be a fair rule. At a certain point, don't we have to trust her to make the right decision?"

"No, we don't." Davenport shook his head, "That's not a risk I'm willing to take."

Tasha crossed her arms reproachfully, "I wonder if you'd be this adamant if it were Adam or Chase that started all this."

"That's different. Adam's like a puppy; he likes wide open spaces and food, which we have down here. He wouldn't take a girl up to his room, and no girl would invite herself. And Chase couldn't get a girl upstairs even if he wanted to."

"I love Adam, Donald. He's sweet and a great kid, but he's dumb in the teenage boy way that gets guys his age into all sorts of trouble. And Chase…" she struggled to find something to say before suddenly redirecting her point, "Leo has his own room! There's a double standard when it comes to Bree."

"Of _course_ there is," He acquiesced, throwing his arms up in the air, "she's our little girl! She's sweet and so excited to be out there in the real world. It's made her too eager to please everyone else, and she can't. Tell me, do you think if she didn't only have the lab that she would have hesitated for even a second to bring Owen up to her room?"

"She… she wouldn't have gone up there to do _that_, not Bree. And the boys would use their rooms to hang out, too."

"Thank you, Tasha, for proving my point. All three of them would end up in a situation they couldn't handle- _especially_ Bree. The guys are happy to enjoy being boys for as long as they can, but she's in such a hurry to grow up... she wants that fairytale so bad, Tash, and I wish I could give it to her, I do. But I'm not going to let some teenage boy try to tell her how to get it." With a soft smile, Tasha walked up to her husband and kissed his cheek, a hand on the broad span of his chest.

"Then I think you need to tell her that. It'll mean a lot, coming from you." She moved to leave and check on her son, but hesitated in the doorway to give one final thought. "And for what it's worth, I don't think Adam would leave any boy with enough limbs to lead her down that wrong path. I'm willing to bet Eddy's got some good footage of him with Owen." Davenport was left laughing in her wake. He rounded the island and dropped into one of the kitchen bar stools, swiveling toward the kitchen screen.

"Eddy," he grinned, "show me what Adam did to Owen… I hope the dweeb wet his pants."

* * *

The boys found Bree curled up on the floor of her capsule, legs against her chest and face buried in her knees. Adam and Chase leaned against either side of the open door. Adam rapped his knuckles softly against the glass.

"Knock knock." He said.

Chase gave a soft smile, "Can we come in?"

"I think it'd be kind of a tight fit. I don't really wanna talk right now, guys… but thanks."

Adam shrugged, "So we won't talk." He held up the big bag he grabbed from the kitchen earlier, "I got extra sweet kettle corn, your favorite."

She laughed through her sniffles, "Where did you even get that?"

"I've been hanging onto it for a special occasion; even hid it under the cabinet so I would remember not to eat it." Another laugh, this time from both his friends.

"Thanks, Adam. That's sweet." She scooted part-way out of her capsule to sit on the edge. The boys sat on the floor on either side of her, opening the bag and holding the open end out to her.

"See, who needs a puppy when we've got this guy." Chase commented cheekily, leaning over her to grab a small handful. Adam gave him a big smile back.

"And who needs Barbies when you have this life-size girl to play with." Through Bree's laughter, Chase pelted Adam with some of the food and he cringed away unnecessarily.

"Oh, obviously. What more could I ask for from life?" She took another handful of kettle corn.

"Seriously," Adam nodded, staring into her eyes, "who needs anyone else when we have each other?" She smiled and held his gaze for a long moment.

"Exactly." Chase whispered to himself and stood. He opened his arms in a grand gesture. "In fact, in light of this newfound freedom from all those other than us, I am going to leave you to do whatever pointless girly activity you so choose with zero mocking. I know, I know- I'm far too generous."

"Y'know, maybe you wanna take my girl things seriously; you might learn something for your future girlfriend."

Adam laughed, "Aw, that's cute; Bree's joking that you could get a girlfriend."

"You're right, that was mean of me… I'm sure your future husband will make you the happiest girl in the world." The two broke down in uncontrollable laughter, and Chase rolled his eyes.

"Yeah haha, laugh it up snot-brains. I'm going to bed." Sticking out his tongue he stomped off to his capsule.

"Eddy, dim the lights." Bree called out and grabbed the tablet. She glanced over at Adam. "I was going to watch Teen Model Fiancé, but I can do it upstairs if you want." He shrugged, stretching out and moving closer beside her.

"Nah, I'll stick around and watch."

She raised an eyebrow, "Ya sure? You _hate_ this show."

"I don't mind."

"Really? You're positive?"

"Yeah… I'm telling you, one day they're gonna make a spin-off about teen monkeys!" She laughed.

"Whatever you say, Adam." They watched in silence for a while. The girl kept her eyes glued determinedly to the screen, trying to block out thoughts of Owen. She would be alright for a while, but then the sadness would set back in when she was left to her thoughts. Unfortunately, it was not fair to ask the boy next to her to provide continuous distraction. But that was all he was thinking about. Rather than watching the mindless reality show, he kept sneaking glances at her, watching the way her eyes distanced and watered.

"… Bree," he whispered finally. She looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"Yeah?"

"I know I'm not super smart, like Chase, so I can't give you advice or probably say the right thing, but if you wanna talk, I can try real hard to listen."

"That's nice of you, but you don't have to."

"I want to, though, if you want to."

She pursed her lips, "I don't even know how to say what I want to say. It's hard. Really, you don't have to worry about it. I'm sure Tasha will take me out for ice cream and to talk about it tomorrow. I don't know that I could put it into words now."

"Well try." She was surprised by his insistence but nodded, appreciating that he knew exactly what she needed.

"I dunno… I guess I just thought Owen and I had something special. All that 'muse' junk and the portraits of me, it made me feel like I was the center of his universe. I know it's all fake and Hollywood and fairytale, but I really want to be that for someone. Pretty stupid, huh?" Adam shook his head.

"It's not stupid." He told her earnestly.

"Whatever," she shrugged, playing with her hands, "it doesn't matter."

As the teen models flashed across the screen, Adam looked over at her seriously. "It does matter. No guy will _ever_ be good enough for you." With watery eyes, she smiled at him and snuggled into his side, head resting in the crook of his neck.

* * *

The next morning Bree awoke and headed up to the kitchen to find Owen's marigolds had been discarded and replaced by a new bouquet. It was lovely, made up of yellow acacias, red carnations, and white gardenias, maidenhair fern making up the greenery. The buds were carefully arranged, tasteful and delicate, and the vase placed where she was certain to see it as soon as she entered the room. The sight gave her a wide smile, and she buried her face in the blooms to take a deep breathe. Looking over, she smiled softly at Adam's form sprawled across the couch, flower petals and leaf cuttings still stuck to his shirt and hair. His mouth hung open carelessly, and every so often his foot would twitch just slightly. Grinning, she tiptoed over and pressed a kiss to his cheek, pulling back strategically as he jerked awake.

"Wha- no, not the donkey! Quick, grab the lampshade!" He looked around frantically and slowly came to terms with the reality of the situation, stretching and scratching the back of his head. "Hey, Bree… wassup?"

"Nothing, dork. Wanna tell me what was gonna happen to that donkey?" He looked at her seriously.

"Believe me, you do not want to know."

She giggled and gave him a genuine smile. "Thank you for the flowers, Adam. They're lovely." He grinned back, opening his mouth and making his patented tongue face.

"Way better than Owen's, right?"

"Yes," she laughed, "much better. How about I make us some breakfast; how do eggs sound?"

"Awesome." Instead of answering verbally, she tweaked his nose and returned to the kitchen to set to work. He continued to doze, but as she cooked, the smell lured the other inhabitants of the house toward the kitchen.

"Girl, what smells so dang good?" Leo strolled in and leaned over her shoulder, taking a big whiff of the eggs. She shrugged him away a bit, laughing.

"Just a quick breakfast… don't touch that!" She gently slapped his hand away, "Those are for Adam and Chase." At his annoyed look, she rolled her eyes. "Ugh fine, I'll share some of mine." She scraped half of one of the plates onto another and tossed on one of the two pieces of toast.

He took a big bite of toast, "So why exactly are you making breakfast for the two guys you described as, and I quote, 'most annoying dingbats the unholy union of nature and technology has to offer?'"

"Because," Chase announced regally as he entered the kitchen, "we are the most amazing brothers _ever_. Wake up, doofus," he tossed an empty water bottle that clocked Adam in the head, "breakfast."

"Alright!" Adam all but leapt over the couch to shovel eggs into his mouth, "Thanks, Bree!" The other nodded.

"Yeah, thanks… you didn't have to do this."

She smile back at him, "Well you didn't have to do that yesterday, so thank you." Leo looked between all of them in confusion.

"What happened yesterday? Man, why am I always missin' something!" Chase shook his head.

"We'll fill you in on the way to school."

"Yeah," Davenport cut in, leaning against the doorway, "you've all gotta get ready for that. Why don't you boys run downstairs and grab your backpacks; I've gotta have a word with your sister."

Adam furrowed his brow thoughtfully, "But Chase, I thought you said that you ran some weird tests and she _wasn't_ our sister?"

"Just go, Adam." He did as told, and his teammate sighed, preparing to explain yet again a simplified version of DNA testing.

"I know, Mr. Davenport," Bree said as the boys left, eyes down, "I'll stop by Montvale and grab more for the sample first thing after school… I really am sorry."

He waved a dismissive hand, "Eh, don't worry about it. If there was anything wrong, they'd be growing tails by now… how ya holding up, princess?" She shrugged, shifting her weight back and forth from one leg to the other.

"I'm ok, I guess… did the guys tell you?"

"A little bit, not everything… sorry I blew up on you."

"It's fine, I know I messed up." She walked over and gave him a quick hug, so he'd know all was forgiven. "I should get my stuff for school." Davenport held her when she tried to pull away.

"Hey, today's gonna be fine. Don't worry about him; he was never good enough for you, anyway. There's a guy out there who's just made for you, who knows how special you are and wouldn't do anything to ruin that. You'll see, kiddo. Plenty of fish in the sea and one's made just for you."

She gave him a watery smile, "You really think so?"

"I know so. He's gonna worship the ground you walk on." He placed a gentle kiss to the crown of her head. "I love ya, kid. Now go on, you'll be late for school."

* * *

That evening found the boys back down in the lab, as usual. Chase had issued Adam a challenge to lick his elbow, keeping him busy and out of the way as the younger boy did some research. Every so often, Chase would glance over and smirk at his expression, face contorted in concentration and tongue stretched as far out as possible. It was one of those moments when Davenport walked in and surveyed the area.

"… Do I even wanna know?" He asked.

Adam looked over at him, "Chase told me that if I can lick my elbow, it'll unlock a bonus ability in my chip. I've been trying for hours, but it looks like I'm gonna have to train super hard to earn this one." He immediately returned to the struggle. Davenport just shrugged and left him be, turning to the other.

"And what are you working on, smartass?" He asked with a vaguely disapproving look. The boy had the decency to look a tad contrite before answering.

"Just looking into that nano-bot project. What's up?"

Davenport pulled up a chair and sat next to him, "I just wanted to talk to you boys about Bree." Adam looked up from his elbow challenge.

"She ok?"

"I dunno," Davenport shrugged, looking between the two of them, "you tell me. How was school?"

"I ate fifteen hot dogs!" Adam announced excitedly, but they ignored him.

Chase shrugged, "Pretty uneventful, boring even. We all hung out, went to class. Caitlin was sorry to hear they broke up, but other than that, no one said anything. Owen kept watching her, though. We stayed close to her, just in case, so I'm not sure if he didn't want to come over or just didn't want to while we were there."

Davenport frowned, "He's not gonna come sniffing around here again, is he?"

"Might try, but probably not. Apparently he said some pretty unflattering stuff about Adam and me, so Bree doesn't want anything to do with him."

"That's good… she's a smart girl. And she's lucky to have you. You boys were right to watch out for her like you did." He placed a firm hand on Chase's shoulder and waved Adam over, "I'm proud of you. You're a really good team and only stronger for all this."

"Aw thanks Mr. Davenport, but I don't think I need to be stronger." Adam said foolishly from his side. He laughed and him on the back.

"I'll keep it in mind, buddy." As the smile faded, Davenport regarded the young man for a long time. Eddy had shown him a lot more than just Adam's threat, prone to stirring up trouble as he was. He did not stop until Owen had stormed out, done throwing around intense and heinous accusations. Only they weren't heinous, not when he sat and thought about them, and honestly, he was not sure how to handle the situation. He knew he should talk to the boy, have a serious conversation about all this, but he did not know how. He did not know what to say. If it was true, he was entirely out of his element. How were you supposed to tell your son he wasn't allowed to be in love with his sister, when he was in love with her and she wasn't his sister and you aren't his father, even though she really kind of is and you really kind of are? None of it made sense, even as he tried to string it together in his mind. He was a genius, but this made his head spin. And forget talking to Tasha, how was he supposed to explain the conundrum. His eyes cut to the other boy. Chase knew, he thought, and was ok with it… it was weird. It was gross to him, in a way, and utterly inconceivable. It sounded like something out of a bad soap opera or a low-grade anime. Through all the confusion, he wondered how he had not seen the obvious truth before. More than that, he wondered how Bree could not see it.

"Anything else you need, Mr. D?" Chase asked as the silence stretched on. The grown man sighed, scratching the back of his head and trying to feign maturity. He failed.

"I'm booored. Tasha and Bree are having 'girl time,' and Leo's off with Janelle… guuuys," he whined, "play with me." It was silent for a minute.

"… Wanna hook up video games to the simulator again?"

Davenport grinned, "Heck yeah!"

The boys scurried around the room, gathering the necessary materials and prepping the machine. This was their typical man-bonding activity. Bree had tried to partake in the action once, with Giant Man-Eating Spider Killer 5, but the graphics of spider insides exploding in their faces was just 'too gross' for her. Leo only slowed them down. To be fair, so did Davenport, but it was not nearly as pathetic to watch. The three of them could play the game for hours, without rest, and that night was no different. It only ended when Tasha came down in a robe and demanded Donald act like an adult and get his butt in bed. The boys were wise enough to scurry toward their pods before she turned a glaring eye on them, so they abandoned their 'fearless leader' to face the wrath of his wife.

Once inside, Chase drifted off fairly quickly. Between school, research, and the simulator, he had been working all day. Adam, however, was thirsty and wondering where the third member of their team was. Making his way up the stairs, he sighed. He hoped she was feeling better. As much as the day had been uneventful, it had still been hard on her. Owen's eyes trailed her form longingly no matter where she went, and his glare zeroed in on her adopted older brother often. He had not mentioned their step-family status to anyone, which was nice. He really did care about her and want to be with her, he was just too controlling. Adam just found it frustrating that the guy was dumb enough to look a gift horse in the mouth and not appreciate how _lucky_ he was to have her. And for him to think someone was doing something stupid, it had to be pretty bad.

Reaching the kitchen, he carelessly went to the fridge and grabbed the milk. Everyone hated when he drank from the carton, but he figured no one was around to notice. Anyway, he was not in any mood to care. He wanted her to be happy again, and he was out of ideas for how to make that happen. Chase could come up with something, he figured; Chase always had great ideas. But then it would be from the both of them. It was not the same. He thought about the look on her face after the flowers that morning as he placed the milk back on the shelf.

A soft sigh caught his attention, and he made his way carefully across the room.

Bree was curled up on the couch again, fast asleep. Silently, Adam threw a blanket over her and tucked her in carefully, kneeling before her on the floor. She shifted slightly as he brushed her hair behind her ear but otherwise did not stir. For a long moment, he looked at her features, softened in sleep, with a deep, focused expression. Leaning in, he pressed a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth, feeling the warmth of her breath and the softness of her lips where they met her cheek. He ran a big hand over her hair.

"Don't worry," he whispered, "you'll always have me… And I can wait." Standing, he left to get some sleep down in his capsule but not without a last longing glance at the sleeping beauty. He sighed heavily and continued on his way, thankful for the peace while everyone else was dead to the night. Adam was generally a happy guy, but every so often, he needed time to wallow in his sadness at life's disappointments.

But when he reached the basement, he could not help his smile. There on the floor of his capsule, tied with a simple white ribbon, lay pink ambrosia.

**The End**

* * *

R_S: Tada! Please leave me some pretty reviews- they make me smile.

For those of you wondering about the flowers thing:

Marigolds were silly for Owen to get, because they represent cruelty, grief, and jealousy, which ends up being ironically fitting but wasn't what he was going for. Adam says roses, tulips, or apple blossoms, because they have more romantic meanings. As for the flowers he got Bree: acacia blossoms represent concealed/chaste love; red carnations mean 'my heart aches for you' and represent admiration; gardenias say 'your lovely' and imply a secret love; and the specific type of fern, maidenhair fern, suggests a secret bond of love. So basically it was a giant bouquet screaming "I'M SECRETLY IN LOVE WITH YOU!" He didn't think she'd read into it. But then she responded with ambrosia, which is a symbol of requited feelings meaning 'your love is reciprocated,' so BAM! Bree got it. I didn't intend the whole flower thing, it just happened… actually, I never intended for this to be Bradam, just a bit of heart-broken sister family fluff, but then Owen got all jealous of Adam and it just happened… I think there needs to be more of this couple. I like them.

Also, if anyone is looking for ideas to write about, I have a couple that I want to write but probably won't happen- at least not without some help:

For another Bradam piece, maybe Douglas wanted to design more bionics to breed into some super-soldier program, and Bree was made for Adam but Douglas had to fake his death before he could create Chase's 'mate.' That could also potentially be turned into a love triangle, if someone so desired.

I would love to do a bunch of one-shots of them 'discovering' things, especially Bree. I find her to A) be an underutilized character, and B) have a fascinating naivety. It's expected from Adam, but she's worse in a way. He's dumb, but she is always so eager and trusting. The whole 'what's a Santa' line makes me think about how funny it would be for them to have the talk. Like, why would Davenport have ever addressed that? Maybe Chase would know, from reading, but I don't think he'd go talking to the other two about it. Or if Davenport did have the talk, I think he'd tell Adam and Chase together and then be so uncomfortable he's like "y'know what? Bree doesn't need to know." I can picture her asking who 'made' Leo. Like, the three of them were made in Douglas's lab, who did Tasha have build Leo from her DNA? And Tasha is horrified to find out she (or they) has no idea what sex is or any of that. Or in a darker version, either a boyfriend wants to go to third base or she gets abused when taken by an enemy and knows something wrong happened but doesn't understand and asks someone why they would do that to her and what happened.

The dynamic between all 3 of them makes it so they act like siblings, but I can definitely see why people pair any of them together… it's got that weird too-close-ness of Supernatural. The way I see it is Douglas made them all from different DNA. Nobody questions that Chase is from Douglas (maybe he realized that he was losing time to have kids and was like 'eff it, I already know I can make one'), Adam could _so_ be a mini Donald Davenport sans genius (hey, genetics aren't perfect, and not knowing he wasn't their actual dad, I watched the monster truck episode and thought he was), and I think it'd be funny if Douglas got Bree's DNA from a girl he wanted to get with or dated or some celebrity he liked. This conversation would be great– Donald is just flabbergasted, like: "So wait a minute, you got Bree's DNA from the cute chick who worked at the gas station because, what, it just seemed like a good idea at the time?!" And Douglas just shrugs and says "I didn't think either of us would make very pretty girls." Then he makes a fake baby voice and says, "And look how lovely our little princess turned out!" And he smooshes Bree's cheeks and shakes her head or something. The mental image makes me laugh. Then it would be a really cool story of her trying to find and connect with her real mom, and discovering her identity as an individual. There could even be a supernatural aspect if you wanted there to be, like 'oh my goodness, her mom isn't totally human! She's a siren/fairy/from a long line of witches/hell if I know, I'm just the ideas gal!' Again, very fun to write… ooh she could be an actual, literal muse and Owen slowly becomes obsessed with her… that'd be cool. Or, supernatural ideas aside, the government finds out and decides to take her from the Davenports and put her with her 'real family,' whoever's DNA she's from.

I dunno, maybe some of these ideas will make it in if I decide to expand on this. Who knows if I will… it's hard to get inspired to write a pairing when there isn't much of it, y'know?

Anyway, sorry for the long author's note. I just got kinda attached to these characters and thought I'd share some ideas/feels. Thanks for reading, and again, please leave a review!


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